your brewing technique for green tea

This is how I do it: I use water around 52-53 (edit: I mean 58) degrees celsius. I use a glass teapot with stainless steel mesh insert. I put in the amount of tea I want, usually about 2-3 teaspoons for 2 cups of tea (1 tall glass.) Then I brew for four minutes. I don’t resteep. This is what seems to work best for me. I do the same thing more or less for white and greener oolongs.

52-53 degrees Celsius?? That seems really low! I usually use about 79-80 degrees Celsius for anywhere from 1 minute to 2.5 minutes depending on the green tea. I always do at least two infusions and sometimes more like 3 or 4.

But I mean, if that’s what works for you, then that’s what works. Everyone has different tastes and preferences.

I guess it depends on the green tea. For most of my green teas I brew at around 170-175F for 1-2 minutes depending on the tea. For my genmaicha though I bring the temperature up to 190 and steep for 1 minute (i use more leaf less time here because genmaicha tastes gross brewed any other way to me)

Green tea can be so fickle. Some you don’t want to steep for too long (Genmaicha) and others, especially the flavored ones, you want to make sure to get plenty of the flavoring without making it bitter. I tend to let mine sit for a minute and then taste them. If I feel they could go longer then I sip every 15-30 seconds. It’s amazing how quickly they can become bitter.

I prefer almost all my teas to be warm. Most greens are better slightly cooler than other teas. or at least that’s how I like to drink them =]

I meant around 58 celsius. This is a lot cooler than 79-80 of course, but I brew for longer and don’t resteep. I know this is more a of Western technique and not so traditional. At some point I will experiment with other techniques, but I think I can still get a profoundly great cup of tea using my method, when I get the temperature just right! That’s the hardest part. Too cool and the tea tastes watery and the flavors/benefits don’t come out properly. Too hot and the delicate flavors of the tea are lost and it has an uncomfortable overheating effect on my body.

One day I may invest in a digital kettle such as the “Chef’sChoice SmartKettle” which can heat water to as low as 50 celsius. Then maybe I can get a perfect cup every time!

Of course, after my recent experiments with the 2013 spring harvests of a variety of Long Jing, I’ve found within this category some types respond to different times and temps. For instance a Da Fo Long Jing from Life in Teacup really only came alive for me after brewing it with hotter water for upwards of 1-2 minutes.

On the far side of the spectrum here’s an interesting way to brew Gyokuro:

Agreed. I usually brew white tea slightly cooler and green oolong slightly warmer, etc. But I was getting frustrated when trying to brew the perfect cup of my favorite green, because I couldn’t always get the temperature perfect. So I thought I’d try to measure the temperature and set the dial on my hot water spigot to match that. So at least my favorite tea would come out right. If I needed hotter, I’d just boil water on the stove. Anyway, it didn’t really work out – I find I have to adjust the temperature too much for different teas. Plus sometimes the water would come out colder for a second before turning hot, changing the final temperature. I’m back to adding cold and then hot water like Natea.

Yes I find it really depends on the tea for how long you steep it for. In terms of temperature I always boil the water and then add about 80% boiling water to the pot/cup/glass and then add about 20% cold water, then infuse the tea. I normally use a metal mesh steeper, so I use a spoon or something to ensure that the leaves a submerged in the water.
I find for a generally run of the mill green about 2 minutes works best.

You didn’t mention which kinds of green tea, the brewing guidelines vary quite a bit.
I have a complete guide for every Japanese tea, in case you want to take a look:http://www.myjapanesegreentea.com/types-of-japanese-green-tea
Of course, they are just general guidelines and you are free to brew however you want.